Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic tape and a magnetic tape device.
Discussion of the Background
Magnetic recording media include tape-shaped media and disk-shaped media. Magnetic recording media in the form of tapes—that is, magnetic tapes—are primarily employed in data storage applications such as data backup and archives. Information is typically recorded on a magnetic tape by recording a magnetic signal on the data band of the magnetic tape. Thus, data tracks are formed on the data band.
In recent years, the steep rise in the overall quantity of information in existence has been accompanied by increased demand for magnetic tapes capable of higher recording capacity. One method of achieving higher capacity is to reduce the width of the data track so that more data tracks can fit in the widthwise direction of the magnetic tape, which increases the recording density.
However, when the data track width is reduced, in the process of running a magnetic tape within a magnetic tape device (commonly called a “drive”) for recording and/or reproducing a magnetic signal, variation in the position of the magnetic tape in the widthwise direction makes it difficult for the magnetic head to accurately follow the data track. This tends to cause more errors to occur during recording and/or reproduction. Accordingly, one means of reducing the generation of such errors proposed in recent years is to employ head tracking servo that uses servo signals (hereinafter referred to as “servo systems”), and put to practical use (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,384, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).